HS-LS2-2
Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
- Animals
Some ecologists value parasites — and now want a plan to save them
Parasites get a bad rap as disease-causing, unwelcome guests on other organisms. But parasites are also imperiled, and scientists don’t want to lose them.
- Health & Medicine
Dogs and other animals could aid the spread of monkeypox
Now that monkeypox has spread to a dog, researchers fear other species could help the virus become widespread outside of Africa for the first time.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is mpox (formerly monkeypox)?
Once rare, the viral disease monkeypox exploded onto the global scene for the first time in 2022.
- Animals
Sleepy mosquitoes prefer dozing over dining
Mosquitoes repeatedly shaken to prevent slumber lagged behind well-rested ones when offered a leg to feed on.
- Animals
Some Greenland polar bears are surviving with very little sea ice
The ‘glacial mélange’ on which they’ve come to rely — a mix of ice, snow and slush — could be a temporary refuge for some polar bears.
- Animals
Palm-size marsupials may face extinction from wild ‘house’ cats
After surviving Australian bushfires, the Kangaroo Island dunnart is losing ground as it's targeted by hungry predators.
- Space
The first plants ever grown in moon dirt have sprouted
This tiny garden shows farming on the moon may be difficult, although not impossible.
- Animals
Let’s learn about amphibians
Amphibians are named after the Greek word for “double life” because many transform from water dwellers to landlubbers as they grow up.
- Oceans
Night lights make even the seas bright
Light from coastal cities and offshore development may shine deep enough to disrupt tiny critters living dozens of meters (yards) below the surface.
- Animals
Infected caterpillars become zombies that climb to their deaths
By tampering with genes involved in vision, a virus can send caterpillars on a doomed quest for sunlight.
- Environment
Ponds made to control floods can spew climate-warming gases, study finds
Younger stormwater ponds can release more carbon in gases than they absorb, a study finds. That could aggravate global warming.
- Microbes
Kitchen sponges are bacteria’s dream home
Sponges are favorite spots for bacteria, partly because of the mixed-housing environment that the cleaner-uppers offer microbes.
